Is Patrick Patterson the "player of the decade" for UK?
By Staff
It’s a new day for the UK’s rivals poll but we will get to that in a second. First the question I have for you would be “Is Patrick Patterson the player of the decade for UK?” I have to answer that with a resounding “Well, duh”.
In my eyes, as I have said here before, Patrick Patterson represents the beginning of UK’s ascent back to the top of the basketball world. Tubby Smith had just resigned and UK was developing a disturbing habit of 10 loss seasons. Billy Gillispie was then a breath of fresh air and there were rumors that 5 star recruits Jai Lucas and Patrick Patterson would both be attending the same school. Lucas committed to Florida and the hated Gators and with great dread, I waited for the other shoe to drop and for Patterson to follow him. It appeared that Donovan had built a legitimate basketball dynasty and was now in the “reload” mode of recruiting. But the commitment to UK from Patterson changed all of that.
Now keep in mind that in Patterson’s two seasons, the Wildcats have still lost 10 games each season and may have regressed a little bit. But this time, Patterson spurned what was believed to be a top 20 draft position in the UK and announced that he was returning to UK for his Junior season. Going to the pros would have been the easy thing to do. He was, as everyone, frustrated with the Billy G situation, but for his credit, refused to say anything negative about the controversial coach. But almost as soon as he announced he was going to evaluate himself in the draft, Patterson was back in Wildcat Blue stating his desire to win a championship.
It is obvious that aside from being the key man on the basketball court, Patter played a huge role behind the scenes, helping to recruit players to come to UK. Both Daniel Orton and Jon Hood have mentioned Patterson’s name glowingly as someone they had talked to about UK when they were being recruited. Eric Bledsoe broke the news to the BBN that Patterson was coming back to UK before it happened and cited his conversations with PPatt.
Despite being double teamed and harassed continuously defensively through his entire career at UK, Patterson has averaged around 17 points and 8 rebounds a game for his career. Now, I know that there are other players that would contend for the title of player of the decade (Bogans, Azubuike, Hayes, Bradley, Crawford, Prince, and Rondo) but this Patterson has the chance to do what none of them could do. WIN BIG and go to a Final 4. If Patterson can lead the Cat’s to the promised land and the Final 4, that alone would cement his status as “Player of the decade”.
He’s pretty damn close right now, without that.
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As expected, top seeded Louisville crushed 16 seeded Alabama in the UK Rivals Tournamaent. The final was a whopping 57-3 dismantling and we look at another first round matchup today. CLICK HERE for the full tournament lineup and note that I have switched the time for voting to just two days to speed it up. As always, look for the poll in the upper right hand corner.
2. TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS
Like Louisville, a rival that really needs no introduction as that is why they are the number 2 seed. The football rivalry has been incredibly one sided for the past two decades but the Wildcats boast a large number of “close but no cigar” moments. Lane Kiffin can ad a whole dimension to this rivalry and expect the football side of the rivalry to erupt if Kiffin is the one to lose to the Cats. We obviously know the players hate each other and no matter what happens on the gridiron, the hatred will not simmer.
Even in “down times” the basketball Cats have dominated the UT hoopsters in the last five years, winning 8 of 11 games and sweeping the 2005 and 2009 seasons. 2005 was a three-peat as UK bounced the Vols from the SEC Tourney. Like Kiffin, Bruce Pearl is a clown, but of a different sort and if UK signs Josh Selby ….. watch out for this rivalry to erupt.
15. NOTRE DAME
Sadly, this rivalry has been pretty non existent in recent years, but in the day, this was a classic basketball rivalry. If Calipari is looking for teams to add to the schedule, I would love to see the Fighting Irish on the agenda. And what the hell, let’s add them to football soon (as long as Charlie Weiss is there). Notre Dame marked the end of the Billy G era, but I am thinking ND may get some votes because of Digger Phelps.
Ever watch Phelps slam UK and wonder where that came from? It’s probably a lot of still unresolved frustration as UK dominated the Irish and Phelps 12-4. This rivalry was huge in the 70’s and had a short return as part of the Big Four Classic at Indianapolis Phelps record was 2-11 against UK but he managed to win 2 of 3 games against Eddie Sutton and early Pitino before returning. Another reason for the rivalry? It’s Notre Dame.
So this poll is open for two days. Vote in the upper right and thanks.
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